Onyx Cafe Loses Its Eviction Fight, Gets 60 Days to Leave
After pushing its eviction case to a jury trial, the Onyx Cafe, a Bohemian-style coffeehouse in Silver Lake, has been ordered to get out in 60 days.
Fred Hicks, who holds the master lease on the property, said he is expanding the Vista Theatre next door to three screens and needs the Onyx space for a ticket booth.
But, although Hicks’ plans for the Vista have upset many Onyx patrons, his plans for another theater just up the street are being hailed by community groups.
In February, Hicks acquired the lease to the ailing Los Feliz Theatre, a pioneer art and foreign-language film house. Hicks has pledged to continue the theater’s tradition of showing specialty and foreign films.
Last week, a Los Angeles Municipal Court jury ruled that the co-owners of the Onyx, John Leech and Fumiko Robinson, have have 60 days to leave the cafe and 30 days to vacate their rent-controlled apartments upstairs.
Leech and Robinson say they have been looking for a spot in the area for their European-style cafe for months, but have not found anything.
‘Fight Is Over’
“The fight is over” Leech said, making cappuccino at a machine formerly covered with colorful signs advertising the cafe’s plight. “The depression comes out of talking to people who say this is just a chunk taken out of Silver Lake. But I don’t know what to do about it.”
Judge Melvin (Red) Recana ordered Leech and Robinson to pay Hicks’ court costs and attorney fees, estimated at $20,000. Leech said he may hold a benefit at the Onyx the night before the cafe closes to raise some of that money.
Some of the same people who are disturbed about the fate of the coffeehouse however, are relieved at Hicks’ attempt to revive the Los Feliz Theatre.
“One of the things we need in this neighborhood is a good movie house, the other thing we need is a good coffeehouse.” said Ari Sikora, a resident who has been a leader in the fight to save the theater. “We are very pleased that Hicks is taking over the theater. The Los Feliz is so closely clutched into so many local bosoms and is the foundation, I think, for a lot of the activity on the street.”
Hicks is the second new leaseholder with plans to operate the theater along its original lines since the original operators lost their lease last summer after more than 40 years.
Laemmle Theatres, a family-owned movie company, had operated movie house on Vermont Avenue since the 1940s, introducing many art films to the city. But when Denley Investments & Management Co. bought the theater last year, the Laemmle company lost its lease in a rent dispute.
Last fall, theater operator Tom Cooper took over the lease and pledged to preserve the character of the Los Feliz. Early in March, Cooper turned his lease over to Hicks. Cooper could not be reached for comment on what prompted his decision.
Part of Firm’s Expansion
Hicks said his plans at both theaters are part of the expansion of his 4-year-old company, Plaza Entertainment, which now operates six theaters in the city.
When Hicks first moved to evict the Onyx last October, Leech and his late-night artist patrons launched a battle to save the coffeehouse. More than 3,000 people signed a petition protesting the eviction, two Los Angeles city councilmen added their support and two demonstrations were held in front of the cafe. But, when the case went to court, it took the jury only a few hours to decide in Hicks’ favor.
“We’re not rejoicing about the Onyx moving out by any means,” Hicks said. “but we needed the space that we spent quite a bit of money to purchase.”
Under California law, a landlord can evict a tenant without cause to use the property in another manner. Leech’s attorney had argued that the eviction was retaliatory because Leech and Robinson had complained about the conditions of their apartments.
Despite losing their court battle, however, Leech and his friends have launched another fight that will not affect the Onyx, but may stymie Hicks’ plans for the theater.
They have asked the city Cultural Affairs Department to declare the theater, built in 1923, a historic-cultural monument. The department turned down a similar request last year because work done to bring the building up to earthquake building codes altered its Spanish-style facade and Egyptian-style interior.
The department will hold a hearing April 6 to determine whether to reconsider its decision. If the Vista wins cultural monument status, any changes will have to be approved by the department.
The theater, built on the site used by D. W. Griffith for the Babylonian Palace set in his classic 1916 film “Intolerance,” was originally owned by Lou Bard, whose chain of theaters brought second-run movies to the suburbs.
Architecture Not Affected
Hicks said his plans to add two 150-seat theaters on either side of the ornate, 700-seat theater in the Vista will not damage the architecture. The building has a pink facade and an interior featuring a vaulted ceiling, simulated pylons capped by Egyptian-style busts, murals, an organ screen and a proscenium flanked by columns.
Hicks said he is consulting an architect about keeping the main theater intact while remodeling the lobby and what is now the ticket booth.
“What you’re going to have all together is a structure that is nicer and is remodeled to its architectural peak,” Hicks said. “I don’t really understand the backlash that much.”
